Atrisco Cafe and Bar

Want to dine where the locals go? Head for Atrisco Café & Bar in DeVargas Mall. Locals come here for the traditional comidas nativas de Nuevo Mexico (northern New Mexican cuisine). Owner George Gundrey, former Executive Director of the Santa Fe Farmers Market, has a strong commitment to fresh and local and it's evident in his restaurant. He sources food from area growers whenever he can. His natural (hormone and antibiotic-free) beef and lamb are raised by local ranchers, an over 400-year-old tradition in New Mexico. Atrisco's signature dish, roast leg of lamb burritos, pays homage to this. The restaurant is named for Albuquerque's Atrisco Barrio. Gundrey's grandmother Sophia ran the Central Café at the corner of Atrisco Boulevard and Central Avenue from the 1940s to the 1970s. He's the third generation of his family in the restaurant business. Gundrey also runs his mother's former restaurant, Tomasita's.